Malia Riggs
Elmore Autauga News
The Prattville Area Chamber of Commerce hosted the annual Dinner in the District last night in Historic Downtown Prattville. A longstanding tradition that started with Daniel Pratt, has now turned into a beautiful night of history, fellowship and community.
This is the 5th annual Dinner in the District where attendees are seated on the banks of Autauga Creek overlooking the Danial Pratt Gin Factory. The open-air celebration kicked off with a cocktail hour followed by a multi-course meal that was catered by Jenny Weller Catering.
“This is really a partnership between us, the city and the county. We started this the first year to re-enact the dinner that Daniel Pratt held. He did it in this same type of fashion with the long table and this is just a great way for the community to come together in this historical place in Prattville and Autauga County,” President of the Prattville Area Chamber of Commerce, Patty VanderWal said.
VanderWal also confirmed that the Autauga County Commission, the City of Prattville and Southern Bite all had a hand in pulling the beautiful evening together on the banks of the Autauga Creek.
While this Dinner in the District has a modern spin, this event still pays tribute to the dinner that Daniel Pratt held in 1859 where local historian Ann Boutwell confirmed that over 2,000 people attended the first dinner hosted by Daniel Pratt.
“That was the night that they dedicated the Prattville Male and Female Academy, and what he did was he invited all the townspeople and guests to come to a dinner that he held on the third floor of the 1854 building where the cupola is across the creek. Of course, we couldn’t hold the dinner there so we decided we would hold the dinner here. History tells us, it was written about in in a paper in a newspaper that 2 ,000 people were served that night,” Boutwell said.
Boutwell stated that she’s known about this story for years but stated with a laugh that she recently had the realization that Daniel Pratt would have needed over 2,000 place setting in order to host a dinner like this as they did not have paper plates and cups in 1859.
“This is the prettiest dinner and in the best location in Alabama, and it’s just such an honor to be here,” Boutwell said.
With music playing on the banks of the Autauga Creek, a perfectly curated dinner was served that was actually inspired by Daniel Pratt’s famed community dinners. A multiple course meal was served, while also bringing the community together with food, laughter and good company.
“Each year it’s just grown. It’s just been wonderful to see and to bring the community spirit together for a night like this. But it’s also been wonderful to also relish in the history that we still have here and to bring everybody together to enjoy all the things that we have here in our community,” VanderWal said.
